BTS Book Reviews Issue 18 | Page 76

| Escaping Eden By Danielle Devon | the trigger as a tear rolled down her cheek. “If you will not take me to her, then you are of no use to me.” “Do it then,” he urged. “Pull the trigger because even if I wanted to help you, I couldn’t.” The Charger wavered in her hand, and then she dropped it to her lap, bowed her head, and sobbed quietly. He watched her for a moment, her shoulders shaking slightly, a small whimper slipping out from between her lips. He wanted to reach out for her, to rest his hand on her shoulder, even to draw her into his embrace to comfort her. “Maybe there is something I can do,” he said at last. She lifted her head, her watery eyes searching his face. “You will help me?” “There are some people I could contact but not from here. We have to get to Eden Prime.” She nodded and punched the coordinates into the console. She lowered the Charger and slipped it into the holster at her side. *** Her Drakon authorization code granted them immediate docking clearance. She did not want to think about what would happen to her when she returned to Drakon, and the Council discovered what she had done. Whatever the price, it would be worth finding her sister. She released the hatch and climbed from the ship, Trave falling in step behind her. They headed from the adjacent hanger, wound their way through the port halls, and stepped into the sunlit city beneath the protective glass dome. “I’ll have to go to the Federation embassy,” Trave said, nodding to the towering building off the main 76 | www.BTSeMag.com thoroughfare. She followed him, stopping short of the glass doors framing the embassy. “Wait here,” he instructed. She nodded and watched as he swept through the doors, flashing his badge at the desk attendant and then disappearing beyond a set of unmarked doors. Satal watched the people of Eden Prime wander in and out of the shops and buildings that ringed the huge stone courtyard. They all seemed oblivious to the harsh realities in the black beyond their own world. A twinge of jealousy stabbed at her heart. How easy life here must be, no death, no destruction, no causalities of war. “Satal?” She turned at the mention of her name to find a uniformed human crossing the distance to her. “If you’ll come with me, Captain Macon is waiting.” She reached for the Charger at her hip, only to find the holster empty. It lay on the console of her ship following Eden Prime’s strict rules on weaponry. She nodded at last and stepped through the doors of the human embassy. She followed her escort down a long and twisted hallway, unmarked doors flanking either side. Finally he paused, opened one of the doors and she followed him inside. She cast a glance around the empty room. “Where is Trave?” Her escort said nothing as he turned, stepped into the hallway, and slammed the door shut behind him. Satal jerked on the door handle and found it